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Looking at how quickly Trey Yesavage can move up the Blue Jays minor-league system
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Ryley Delaney
Feb 25, 2025, 19:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 25, 2025, 06:17 EST
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With the 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft, the Toronto Blue Jays selected right-handed pitcher Trey Yesavage.
His junior season with East Carolina University was terrific, posting a 2.03 ERA and a 1.81 FIP in 93.1 innings pitched with a 40.4 K% and an 8.9 BB%. With a ton of injuries in the Blue Jays system, one has to believe that Yesavage is going to move up the minor league ladder rather quickly.
After his draft, MLB Pipeline’s mid-season scouting report noted Yesavage has a mid-rotation ceiling thanks to an improved fastball. Fast forward a few months, and Yesavage ranks as their 88th-best prospect in baseball, noting that the Blue Jays will have to monitor his development because of those injuries.
Yesavage was one of the best pitching prospects in the draft so one could wonder, how quickly he will move up the minor league ladder. Since Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins took over the leadership of the team, they’ve selected a college pitcher in the first round just four times (kind of). T.J. Zeuch in the 2016 draft, Nate Pearson in the 2017 draft, Alek Manoah in the 2019 draft, and Gunnar Hoglund in the 2021 draft.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a precedent for what the Blue Jays do with a college pitcher in their first season after their draft. Zeuch was selected 21st overall as a junior and started his professional career the same season. The minor league system was different, but he reached as high as “A”. The following season, Zeuch reached Advanced A, before pitching in Double-A in 2018, two seasons after he was drafted. Zeuch reached Triple-A in 2019 and eventually made his major league debut the same season. So three seasons.
The 2019 draft saw Manoah selected 11th overall by the Jays. He had a weird development curve thanks to the pandemic that shut down the 2020 season. In 2019, he made six starts with the short-season Vancouver Canadians, pitching just 15 innings. When the minor leagues resumed in 2021, he pitched 18 innings in three starts with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons before being called up to the Blue Jays. It took him 35 innings,  but the pandemic made everything weird.
Hoglund is the only pitcher who was drafted during the current minor league system, but he’s had a weird professional career so far. Selected 19th overall in the 2019 draft, the Blue Jays drafted him knowing he had Tommy John surgery before the draft. The left-handed pitcher never pitched with the Blue Jays organization, as he was involved in a trade to the then-Oakland Athletics before the 2022 season. Hoglund can’t really be considered, but he has yet to make the big leagues.
There is one other example of a player picked within the first 30 picks – Nate Pearson. The large right-handed pitcher was selected 28th overall in the 2017 draft and pitched 20 innings, mainly with the Short-A Vancouver Canadians. In his first start of the 2018 season, the flame thrower was hit with a comebacker that broke his ulna before pitching in the Arizona Fall League at the end of the season. The 2019 season was his breakout year, authoring a 2.30 ERA and a 2.85 FIP in 101.2 innings pitched between Advanced-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. Pearson made his major league debut in the pandemic season.
Using historical examples of this regime, Pearson is the best example of Yesavage’s minor-league career trajectory could be. Usually, college players drafted by the Blue Jays end up starting their next season in High-A, which is where I imagine Yesavage will end up. If he pitches well, which is a realistic possibility, he could end up in Double-A between the All-Star break and the end of the season.
Assuming all goes well, Yesavage could start the 2026 season in either Double-A or Triple-A and earn a big league look towards the back end of the season. In fact, his MLB Pipeline scouting report estimated time of arrival is also 2026, which indicates he’ll be a quicker mover in the Blue Jays system.
This is all speculative and we’ll have no idea how fast Yesavage will move because there are so many variables. However, he’ll be an interesting pitcher to monitor over the coming years as he could be their next home-grown pitcher.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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